Analysis: Santi Aldama's more than decent season, the (almost) only Spaniard in the NBA 2023/24

Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 08:23

The departures of Ricky Rubio and brothers Juancho and Willy Hernangómez and the fact that Usman Garuba is more of a G League player than anything else (he has played 3 short spells with Golden State Warriors all season) have left Santi Aldama as the only full NBA Spaniard in the 2023/24 season.

His third season in the NBA has been the most complicated. After two years with Memphis Grizzlies playing playoffs and finishing very high in the West, this year he has had to go down to the mud and lose many games.

Injuries have made the team unable to compete equally and Aldama has taken advantage of that to gain in minutes (from 21.8 in the 2022/23 to 26 now) and in stats (he has gone from 9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists to 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists). It is not a big increase, but Santi is still a role player beyond the team's losses.

The truth is that in this final stretch of the season he is becoming more and more important in the team, playing more (more than 32 on average in the last 10 games) and being decisive in key moments such as the steal from Domantas Sabonis in last night's game against the Kings. Aldama will enter his last year of his rookie contract having proven that he is a more than valid player to make an NBA career.